Robots or manipulators are increasingly applied in industrial manufacturing and processing processes and are capable of carrying out a multitude of different tasks such as welding, soldering, bonding, riveting or the gripping and movement of manufacturing parts. For this purpose, modern industrial robots can often be equipped with different tools. These tools are usually automatically deposited and stored by the robot, in tool depositing devices (magazines) when not in use. It is likewise common for a robot to automatically take out tools from a tool depositing device when required.
With such methods however, it has been found to be difficult to store or mount the tool depositing device such that compensation movements can be carried out by the device, which permit a secure depositing of a tool in the device, even of the positioning of the tool by the robot relative to the device differs from a desired position.
A storage unit which permits such compensation movements of a tool depositing device is known from the document EP 1 364 754 A2, cf. FIG. 10. A disadvantage of the storage unit shown in EP 1 364 754 A2 is its relatively complicated and expensive construction. Moreover, maintenance work on these storage units has been found to be time-consuming and cost-intensive, in particular if roller bearing elements need to be exchanged.
A tool exchange device and a tool holding device which includes a first coupling device and a first coupling means are described in the document EP 1 364 754 A2 and well as in the document DE 20 2007 016 071 U1 respectively. These in each case include a receiver and a stick-on sleeve for applying the coupling device or the coupling means onto a coupling element designed as a receiver bolt and as a receiver pin, respectively. It is further described that the coupling device (or the coupling means) for its part includes a tool suspension or a fastening region, via which a tool can be connected to the coupling device (or to the coupling means). Thus a connection (coupling) between the tool and the tool depositing device can be created with the mentioned coupling element and the receiver or the stick-on sleeve as well as the tool suspensions or the fastening region of the coupling device and the coupling means, respectively.